


Black Tail

by brewcha



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Boys Kissing, Fluff, Introspection, M/M, hq rare pair weekend, kuroo does art, suga runs a flower shop, they all do magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 23:23:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5720881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brewcha/pseuds/brewcha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo's got a nonsensical charm stuck on him. He's introduced to one Sugawara Koushi, who runs a flower shop, who has been using and seeing magic before he had even learned to walk, who might be able to help.</p><p>Suga says Kuroo is magnetic, and Kuroo thinks Suga is drop-dead gorgeous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Tail

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Witchboy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4051375) by [tothewillofthepeople](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tothewillofthepeople/pseuds/tothewillofthepeople). 



> _alt title: the boy is a witch_
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> written for [haikyuu!! rare pair weekend: day one!](http://haikyuurarepairweekend.tumblr.com/prompts) the prompt i got most out of was the word "wicked" and--it made me think of the novel/musical which made me think of witches and magic. THAT'S ALL.
> 
> first time writing kuroo, so bear with me! and i hope you enjoy the ride.

The first thing Kuroo thought of, sitting in the café of his university that was notorious for its cheap caffeine fixes and soft plush chairs, was that the boy he was looking at, smiling at him from across the round table, was probably the probably the most beautiful human being Kuroo had ever seen.

The second thing Kuroo thought of was _how in the hell does Daichi have friends like him._

Except he must have said that out loud, because Daichi, also sitting at the table, frowned pointedly at him over his third cappuccino of the day. “What, friends that don’t have their rooms completely _covered_ with empty spray cans and their own dirty laundry? You will be surprised, Kuroo.”

“That’s all on Bokuto, not me,” Kuroo retorted with a grin, easily recovering his composure after having been completely dazzled. “Also I think you left your boxers with me after _that_ _one night_.”

Daichi’s friend laughed and Kuroo felt his heart skip a beat.

“Sugawara Koushi, by the way. You can call me Suga,” The boy said, still smiling, before Daichi had a chance to retaliate. “Daichi, I didn’t know you were into _that._ ”

Wow, okay, Kuroo liked him already.

Daichi snorted, but with a smile that was obviously only ever reserved for Sugawara—no wait, _Suga_. “ _This_ is Kuroo Tetsurou, but you already know that. Mr. Bed-head, provocation expert, and most recently,” He paused and his lips twitched; Kuroo wondered if he was remembering that time Bokuto burst into his room just so he could make an innuendo about Kuroo’s stupid curse thing. “ _Cat_ magnet.”

“Hey, my hair—“

“I heard,” Suga interrupted, voice tinged with some amusement, and pulled his chair closer to the table, fingers curling around his cup of tea. “Hence why I’m here.” He lifted the cup up to take a sip (Kuroo’s eyes fell on the small mark he had under his eye) and paused to smile at Kuroo again. “Nice to meet you, Kuroo-san.”

All the dry quips Kuroo was so good at dishing out seemed to completely fade away from his lips. Instead he blinked once and said, “You can call me Kuroo.”

 

\---

 

“My grandparents own the flower shop,” Suga was explaining as he pushed open the door for Kuroo. “And I help run it.”

It was still fairly early in the day, faint sunlight glancing through the clouds as the traffic out in the streets died down for the morning. Suga had asked Kuroo to meet up at his flower shop – _Crow’s Nest_ – early so that they had time to discuss things before Suga opened the shop up for the day.

And the thing was, Kuroo liked sleep – specifically, sleeping in. Probably because he was plagued with frequent insomnia, probably because he and Bokuto would often go out in the middle of the night and paint moving murals on brick walls out and about in town, only returning to the comfort of their apartment as dawn broke.

Not that he had much chances to do that now, with cats following him around and getting underfoot. Also cats make a lot of noise at night.

“Huh,” Suga noted as he closed the door, peering through the glass. There were three cats this morning, one calico and two mottled tabbies. “They’re just sitting there.”

Kuroo grimaced. “Not all of them are that polite, trust me.”

Suga laughed, turning away to navigate through the displays of flowers and potted plants, gesturing at Kuroo to follow. The shop was big – that in itself was nothing to write home about, though, it was a pretty standard size for most shops in this part of town.

It was everything else: flowers and other various plants arranged in neat, unobtrusive ways, despite the fact that there was clearly an abundance of them all; extra effort put into putting the colours – not just the flowers, but also the walls and tables and cupboards, warm colours in one row and cool colours in another, shades of pastel artfully inserted here and there (being an arts student made one incredibly in tune with aesthetics, plus Kuroo was sure there were charms that came with a balanced visual arrangement); Kuroo also spotted a bell chime strung with feathers hanging by the front door, amongst many other things.

And according to Suga, they hadn’t opened up shop yet. Kuroo wondered how it would look like, open for customers and lit with life.

“It’s nice isn’t it?” Suga remarked as he perched himself behind the wide counter in the back of the shop, pulling out a second stool for Kuroo to sit opposite him. “My grandparents practically nurtured this place for years, way before I was even born.”

“Just lacking in cats,” Kuroo said, lips twitching into a smirk. “Of which I can bring in abundance.”

“Ah,” Suga lifted an index finger at that. “That’s why Daichi introduced us, after all. Don’t worry, we can take it slow.”

“Is this what it’s going to be then?”

Suga’s smile was inscrutable, but it was bright and soft at the same time. “You _are_ quite magnetic, as it shows.”

Maybe it was only because Kuroo had only known Suga for a few days, but Suga seemed like the kind of person who smiled so genuinely and spoke so sweetly all the time that you can’t tell whether he was just being his usual nice self or flirting. All the same, it made Kuroo’s heart jump a little and he grinned to quash that feeling down. Come on, “cunning-type” Kuroo Tetsurou, there are more important things to settle here.

Right. Change the subject. “I don’t want to bore you with the details,” Kuroo went on quickly. “Although really there isn’t any. One day I woke up and the world decided I should have a hoard of cats following me wherever I went.”

Suga hummed, diverted. “That _is_ strange. I honestly never heard of that. I wonder if you _took_ something, from somewhere. Like a charmed object.”

He sounded nice when he spoke, that much Kuroo had concluded the first time he met him at the university café, but he didn’t think he’d have a nice getting-down-to-business/thoughtful voice too, the kind that Kuroo wouldn’t mind listening too even if it was just about groceries and the finer points of Monopoly.

“Oh,” Suga’s eyebrows flitted up, his gaze trained over Kuroo’s shoulders. “There’s more.”

Kuroo turned around, and lo and behold, the three cats had been joined by _five freaking others._ There was a black-and-white one pawing at the front door, a couple others with scarred ears pacing back and forth on the pavement, and one really fat cat that Kuroo could’ve sworn he had seen before.

“Fuck.” Kuroo turned back to Suga, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I like cats but not _that much._ ”

Suga laughed, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. “For what’s worth, I think it’s kind of cute.”

Okay.

_Okay._

If having to put up with this ridiculous charm/curse on him meant Kuroo got to see one Sugawara Koushi, and hear him say things like _that_ , then _okay._

He could live with this.

 

\---

 

Well, so, he didn’t actually get to see Suga that much for long periods of time. Kuroo had classes, and also walls to grace with graffiti, while Suga was busy with the flower shop during daytime and running errands. Occasionally they’d meet up in the morning before the shop opened, and Suga would show Kuroo his research with old books that had diagrams and chapters that Kuroo could never for the life of him comprehend, and they’d test a charms and solutions though those never worked.

Suga did, fix some new charms on the store – Kuroo remembered dried orange peels and catnip in the mix of bundles – so that the cats that always followed Kuroo wouldn’t crowd outside the shop front and startle early bird customers.

Which prompted Kuroo to show up one day during the daytime when the shop was open and running.

“What are you doing here?” Suga gave Kuroo a quizzical, though not unwelcoming (in fact, very much the opposite), look, as he put out a fresh bunch of violets – all halfway between in bud and blooming, their petals soft to touch when Kuroo reached out to pick one out.

“Buying flowers,” Kuroo replied, grinning.

Suga raised his eyebrows at him, looked at the violet, than at Kuroo. “Azaleas suit you better.”

Kuroo wasn’t going to lie, his heart sang.

He began picking up the habit, then, visiting the flower shop when it was open. Sometimes he’d already be there when it opened, having half-discussed half-bantered with Suga over the possibilities that the charm on him was hereditary (it wasn’t), and he’d linger for a while, keeping himself out of the way while also slipping in a remark or joke here and there to have Suga laugh halfway through wrapping up a bouquet for a black-haired lady.

It felt straight out of a cheesy romcom – if it weren’t for the fact that Kuroo would still sometimes wake up in bed (or sprawled over Bokuto on the sofa) with cats piled on his head and mild scratches on his arms from the stray claws, and Suga would periodically refresh the charms in the shop and chat to customers about how a certain flower or another _could definitely keep the old memories out of the house Arakawa-san_ and _love spells are never advised but I’m sure buying her fresh roses could do better._

 

\---

 

“Dude.” Bokuto said from where he lay on the couch. He had opted not to go out for the night, with his bag of spray cans and paintbrushes, saying something about how _the horned owl I covered the side of that building with is so perfect I need to recharge after making such a masterpiece hey Daichi have you seen it it flies and everything—_ “Progress?”

“What?” Kuroo wasn’t paying attention, rooting around the kitchen for something that didn’t smell like fish.

“Progress! With Daichi’s friend!”

“Oh.” There was some leftover pizza, and he could share it with Bokuto. “Haven’t you seen the horde of cats hanging around the apartment building?” That will soon start slipping through the balcony window or front door soon no doubt.

“Yes I have,” Bokuto sat up, his eyes gleaming at Kuroo over the top of the couch. “I saw Tubbs and I fed him some snacks.”

“Did you seriously name one of the cats after Neko Atsume.”

Bokuto huffed. “They look exactly the same! By the way, I’m hungry.”

“Already got you buddy.” Kuroo didn’t even bother with a plate, he tossed a slice of pizza and Bokuto hopped from the couch, catching it with his mouth. As Bokuto whooped with his mouth full, Kuroo joined him on the couch with his own slice (that was on a plate), picking up the remote from floor.

“Anyway,” Bokuto continued, changing his position on the couch so that he could lean his head on Kuroo’s shoulder. “When I say progress I mean have done the do with Daichi’s friend yet.”

Kuroo choked, hacking out a cough a few times before the bit of pizza dislodged from his throat. “No—! What the fuck Bokuto—“

“Just asking!” Bokuto reached over to pluck Kuroo’s pizza from his hands and Kuroo shoved him aside. “Because every time you come back after going out to see him you look all moony and drippy and gross.”

Kuroo stared at Bokuto. “I do not.” Did he actually? _God Damnit, talk about cool and suave, Kuroo._

Bokuto just grinned at him. “I’m just sayin’.”

Before Kuroo could reply, the front door clicked open and they heard the sounds of Daichi’s familiar footsteps as he stepped onto the doormat and toed off his shoes. Bokuto shot up from the couch, hollering out “DAICHIIIIIII~” and then gasping because – Kuroo could take a wild guess – one or two of the cats had wandered in after Daichi.

 _You_ are _quite magnetic, as it shows._

“Daichi, tell Kuroo that he should ask your friend out on a date.”

“What?” Daichi looked up from setting down a plastic bag from the supermarket. He narrowed his gaze at Kuroo, who just flashed him a dry grin in response. “Kuroo don’t you dare.”

“I haven’t done anything!”

“That’s the problem!” Bokuto whined.

Daichi took out the book he had been holding under his arm as he unloaded all the stuff he had been carrying – Kuroo and Bokuto stopped to watch as he shook the book by its spine once and the crumpled pages flipped themselves over, straightening back out into neat, flat, printed leaves. Daichi then threw the book at Kuroo’s head.

It hit him square on the forehead – Daichi had scarily impeccable aim and strength for someone who spent most of his studies poring over books, chugging down cups of coffee, and wearing reading glasses that made him look like someone’s boring dad – and Kuroo fell backwards on impact, the book dropping down onto his chest. Bokuto cackled loudly.

“You better not be trying anything with Suga, Kuroo.” Daichi was looking down at him, frowning in that stern way of his that hardens his jawline.

“I’m not.” Kuroo said honestly. Or he kind of was, but also not really. He wasn’t intentionally seeking Suga out beyond just to try and figure out a way to get rid of the cat curse-charm-what-even-is-it because he wanted to see if he could get anything more. He was attracted to Suga, obviously, with his bright smiles and nice voice and amber eyes, and…it was kind of dumb, but Kuroo wanted to know more about him. As a person. “Fuck, Daichi, I’m gonna get a bruise on my forehead tomorrow.”

“Good.” Daichi said, though not unkindly. He patted him on the shoulder, helping him up back on the couch and taking the book back. “That’s for flirting with my best friend.”

“I thought I was your best friend, dude,” Bokuto popped up behind Daichi, holding one of the cats in his arms.

“I thought _I_ was _your_ best friend.” Kuroo said to neither one of them in particular, another cat jumping up to the couch and pawing at his lap. “Also Suga is cute.”

Daichi just rolled his eyes, half-amused as he sat down on the couch beside Kuroo. “I know that.”

“And I kinda like him.”

Daichi shot him a look, but it was only questioningly. “I gathered that.”

Bokuto plopped himself down on the other side of Kuroo, the cat he was holding wriggling out of his arms and crawling up Kuroo’s shoulders. “Let’s go find a wall tomorrow. You can paint the sun and flowers on it, and make it glow.”

 

\---

 

The next morning, Suga commented that his grandparents had been thinking of decorating the walls for a while. At the moment they were a light blue colour, but a bit bare.

Kuroo had looked at Suga, leaning against the counter with the side of his head propped up with an arm, fingers smudged with pollen. There was a cat on the counter, a fluffy ginger, because of course one of them would’ve found its way into the shop one day, though Suga didn’t mind since the shop wasn’t open yet.

“I can help,” He offered before he got to think twice. Suga paused and straightened up a little to look at him. “I can paint things over it, if you want.”

Suga smiled, a slow, glowing smile that was different from all the bright dazzling ones. “I’d love that.”

 

\---

 

Not only did Kuroo visit sometimes in the morning and occasionally during the daytime, but also now he regularly went over when the shop closed as the sun began to dip low over the sky.

For a while he did little, only throw ideas out and sketch a few things for Suga to see. Then he started bringing his spray cans and painting materials over (Bokuto had let out a cheer and they shared a high-five when Kuroo told him about what was happening), and birds began to emerge along the walls.

Suga would always be there, working around him to clean up the shop. The cats would watch from outside. Even after all the cleaning up was done, and evening had long settled, Suga would remain, and Kuroo would still be there, drawing out feathers on the walls.

At first they made use of the extra time, talking about new information that Suga had found when looking into how they could possibly break the charm, or tapping back at their old discussions and trying to figure out something new. Then the conversations shifted, to how Suga grew up with magic and had learned to spell out charms already, picking it up from his family, before elementary school. How he hadn’t been quite used to be around other kids who didn’t see or use magic the way he did, that Daichi had been his only friend in the beginning.

Suga talked about another friend they had, Asahi, who was really shy but grew too big and too fast. Suga had taught him an easy charm – _omiyage mitsu, tako mitsu_ – so that he wouldn’t get scared when he was alone. They had grown up together and Asahi moved away in junior high when his parents got transferred to America, but all three of them stayed in touch, sending letters back and forth, about new things Asahi had learned, new charms Suga had found for his friend, new photos Daichi found of them when they were kids.

Kuroo, in turn, told him about Kenma, his next-door neighbor and close friend back in his hometown, who had a way of always going by unnoticed despite being a solid hundred-and-sixty centimeters tall by the time he was in high school. Kuroo told Suga about how Kenma could change his hair colour. He had gone through variations of blonde, pink, and blue, but his favourite was a deep golden blonde with his natural black roots showing, making it look like he had gone through some dirty dye job, but he liked it that way and for him was just fine.

One evening, Suga made him tea – it was sweet and minty, with honey and a dash of serenity – and sheepishly apologized for always keeping Kuroo in the shop, working on the walls, and that his grandparents would be more than happy to actually pay him for his work.

Kuroo grinned at him. “It’s my payment to you for your efforts to get rid of my cat charm.” Suga had laughed at that, saying he’ll do his best.

Besides, Kuroo liked this. He liked staying for so long talking to Suga, and showing Suga what he could do. He’s also missed this, getting paint on his finger tips and smudged on his elbow without him even realizing until much later.

(Of course, Suga’s grandparents later insisted on paying, because they had seen the flying dragons and meteor showers Kuroo had painted on walls through the town, and the crows he was painting on the _Crow’s Nest_ walls was nothing short of magical.)

Then they’d talk some more. Suga told him about how magic was everywhere, even in those who didn’t use it or see it. Everyone had a little bit of magic in them, like a young boy he knew who was really small but could leap higher than anyone and also light everyone’s days up just by being himself; there are people who go about their lives never once tripping and falling and scraping their knees, and that’s a little bit of magic; some are able to say the right thing at the right time and pick the right people, and magic was uncanny that way.

They’d air out the room before Kuroo left for the night, let the paint dry overnight before the shop opened up the next morning. Sometimes the cats got into the shop and they’d survey the new walls with a silent curiousity before following Kuroo back home.

Soon enough, Kuroo had painted crows in flight, with the light blue walls as the sky. Because they were so black, and always with a great number, Kuroo did his best to not make them look like they were out to murder you on the flowers: he added lighter shades to their feathers, he focused on their form when they are mid-flight, he had them dot along the edges of the walls in patterns, he sprayed swirling letters of the shop’s name on one wall with light gold.

Kuroo finally explained one night why Daichi called him “Mr. Bed-head”, about how he always slept a certain way ever since he was a kid, and the result was his mop of unruly hair that could never be tempered by any sort of hair product. Suga had laughed really hard at that; he laughed so hard that he snorted and teared up and had to crouch down on the floor for a while, his laughter subsiding to giggles as he choked out “I thought you styled your hair that way” in between breaths. Kuroo had blushed so hard, his heart thudding wildly against his ribs, and Suga – did he notice? – offered his own story about how he got the nickname “Mr. Refreshing” during high school by a slender brown-haired boy who could weave words into new charms and bring the best out of the people he hung out with.

Once Suga asked him if Kuroo had always known he wanted to do art, and Kuroo had cracked a laugh and said no, not really, his parents wanted him to do something “professional”, _and what about you and the flower shop?_ And Suga had shrugged and said he had started helping out when he was a kid, and he loved flowers but he dropped out of college after a year when his parents died and has been running the flower shop for his grandparents ever since.

Kuroo learned Suga lived above the shop in a small one-room apartment, and Suga learned Kuroo was ambidextrous.

Kuroo learned Suga’s favourite book was _Wicked_ and knew all the songs to the musical, and Suga learned Kuroo used to play volleyball in high school and would watch volleyball techniques on TV.

 

 

(“How’re you feeling, lover boy,” Bokuto asked one night when Kuroo came back home, his fingers smudged with red paint after adding patterns of azalea onto the walls of the flower shop.

“Like I’m flying,” Kuroo had said.)

 

\---

 

“You know,” Suga noted as Kuroo’s work was drawing to a close. “I think there’s less cats tonight.”

Kuroo paused and glanced out of the window. He was right. There were only just two cats today, one fluffy gray and Tubbs. “It’s been like that for a while actually,” Suga added. “I’m beginning to think the charm just fades on its own.”

“Gotta wait till the cats are getting bored of me,” Kuroo remarked.

“Hard to see that,” Suga said softly. “You _are_ quite magnetic.”

Kuroo blinked, and he blurted out, “I remember you saying that before.”

“Oh,” Suga hummed, but before he could open his mouth to reply Kuroo had taken a step forward and kissed him.

 

 

It was the most unromantic of kisses – their noses bumping and lips mashed together. Kuroo might’ve pulled back, but Suga grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him a little closer, turning his head a little for their lips to overlap each other, kissing him back.

The first thing Kuroo thought of standing in the flower shop in the middle of the night, was that Suga had really soft and warm lips.

The second thing Kuroo thought of was _holy shit I’m kissing Suga oh shit oh shit oh shit._

He must’ve mumbled that out loud or something, because Suga pulled back briefly to look at him, and Kuroo saw his amber eyes glint in the faint light of the shop, his cheeks just a little flushed ( _holy hell Kuroo wanted to make him flushed red all over)_. “Damn right you’re kissing me,” Suga grinned, and then Kuroo pulled him back in for another kiss, this time with his hands on the side of Suga’s face, and he could feel the other boy’s smile against his lips and his fingers carding through his messy hair.

Suga took a step forward and Kuroo stepped backwards, letting Suga push him back against the wall. Kuroo broke away from their kissing, wrapping his arms around Suga and dropping kisses along his neck, having the pleasure of hearing light gasps as Kuroo kissed his way up to Suga’s jaw, then on his fluttering eyelids, his forehead, his cheeks, his mole under his left eye, the corners of his mouth, and then right back on his hot, parted lips.

When Kuroo felt Suga’s fingertips touch his skin underneath his shirt, he felt electricity jolting through his body. In the back of his mind, as he kissed Suga’s mouth sore, teeth occasionally clacking, tongue running over lips, he wondered if that was magic too.

It was getting hot, and Kuroo was growing increasingly aware of the way their hips were pressed hard against each other. And also where they were.

“Shit—“ He groaned against Suga’s lips, running his hands down Suga’s arms before finally pulling back. “I feel like I’m gonna mess up.”

“Me too,” Suga breathed. His eyes were half-lidded from the kissing, but he turned his gaze up at Kuroo, a soft grin spreading across his features. “Take it slow?”

Kuroo smirked a little. “Sounds familiar.”

“Don’t act cool with me,” Suga said slyly, leaning in to kiss him again—then stopped, letting out a snicker.

“Do you think the cats have been watching this whole time?”

 

\---

 

The _Crow’s Nest_ opened up the next morning, its first customers marveling at the new and completed walls. Suga rearranged some of the flower displays to better match with the new aesthetic balance, and he strung up a new bell charm by the door with red strings tied into knots.

Kuroo woke up in the room of Suga’s apartment upstairs, briefly panicking for a moment that they had done it—except he was still wearing his pants (though his shirt was somewhere else). Then he remembered: they had spent all night kissing until their lips were sore and red, fingers ghosting over skin and tugging through their hair, before they had fallen asleep together.

They still needed to figure out the cat charm: Kuroo spotted the black cat, sleek with tufts of fur sticking out in odd places, sitting on the windowsill outside the room and yawning. Kuroo wondered how it got there, and then decided he didn’t mind it too much.

The sheets of the bed was soft and crinkly, and Kuroo rolled over (he sent a quick text from his phone to Bokuto and Daichi just so they won’t think he died—or make the wrong assumption) trying to catch the last of Suga’s scent (flowers, honey and mint) before deciding to go down later to see him in the flower shop.

Progress. Kuroo could live with that.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm really bad at writing kissing scenes.
> 
> there were a lot of things i had wanted to write. like also mentioning akaashi; in this au he works at the university cafe, but at no point did i managed to slip that in. and more little magical stuff, like charms with flowers and small tricks and trinkets suga uses and shows kuroo. what the hell is the thing with the cats and it makes absolutely no sense (you're right). things about the characters like kuroo's insomnia, suga's college drop-out and daichi drinking SO MUCH coffee. AND EVEN MORE THINGS. maybe one day i'll write them out and add to this au.
> 
> like i said, it's my first time writing kuroo, and in an au+rare pair to boot, so i hope it turned out okay. also this was unbeta'd, though i did make several checks on my own, so i'm sorry for any mistakes. and yes, the omiyage mitsu charm is from wolf children -- it popped into my mind as i was writing that little bit and i couldn't help myself.
> 
> (thankss [eugie](http://sunkissedcrow.tumblr.com) for the title ohoho)
> 
> also feel free to hit me up on my tumblr (@brewcha) be it about the au or kurosuga or just to scroll through my mess of a blog.


End file.
